The Premier League’s Top 5 Players To Watch Out For

The Premier League is up and running and fans are in for a thrilling roller coaster ride this season as England’s giants face off in the world’s most popular league.

Will Liverpool be able to retain the Premiership crown and win a record-tying 20th English League title or will Manchester City regain the title that was taken from them after winning it for consecutive seasons? Or will we see a Chelsea side that has spent over 220 million pounds this transfer window, challenging for the top 2 teams from last season? One cannot ignore the fact that Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Leicester City and Arsenal are all capable sides who, on their day, can topple over the best of sides as well. The Premier League has grown from the Big 4 to the Big 6 to what now looks like the Big 8 and these are exciting times for English football fans.

The Premier League has added several big names this season with Everton acquiring the services of James Rodriguez and Tottenham bringing back Gareth Bale on loan for this year. Chelsea signed Hakim Ziyech from Ajax, Timo Werner from RB Leipzig and Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen. Manchester United also added to their muscle by signing Donny van de Beek from Ajax and Liverpool brought in Thiago Alcantara from the UEFA Champions League Champions, Bayern Munich. Manchester City too brought in Ferran Torres from Valencia as David Silva’s replacement.

The Premier League may have a lot of stars but the two biggest names, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi play elsewhere.

With all these star players in the Premier League, the big question remains on who the best of all of these talented footballers are. We have broken down the list of the top 5 players in the 2020-21 Premier League season.

#5 – Bruno Fernandes

Bruno Fernandes, the Portuguese maestro, had one of the biggest impacts on the Premier League that we have ever season in the 2019-20 season and he just played half the season! Manchester United signed the central midfielder in the January transfer window in 2020 and he had an immediate effect on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

The midfield sensation had 12 goals and 8 assists in just 22 games that he featured in last season! His incredible performance was rewarded by Manchester United fans as he was voted the Fans’ Player of the Year, even though he only played half the season.

Manchester United managed to finished 3rd in the Premier League and he was the difference-maker as United went unbeaten in the league after he joined the club. He will be the one player to watch out for and deserves to be in the top 5 players in the league currently, purely based on the fact that he helped a toothless Manchester United team become one of the best teams in England.

The biggest question that remains is whether he can sustain this form and if the players around him can support in making the Old Trafford club successful once again.

#4 – Son Heung-Min

The South Korean sensation – Son Heung-Min has been tearing up the Premier League for multiple seasons now and has elevated his game to the next level in recent times. The Korean had 12 goals and 7 assists in 31 Premier League appearances in 2018-19 and followed that up last season with an even better 11 goals and 11 assists in 30 games. Son also had 5 goals and 1 assist in the 6 games that Spurs featured in, in the UEFA Champions League last season.

His consistent ability to beat defenders one-on-one coupled with his pace, make him a nightmare for defenders. The 28-year-old is improving every season and he has already made his mark in the league bagging 4 goals against Southampton in their second Premier League game.

Son has stepped up for Jose Mourinho’s side on several occasions and is the leading man when Harry Kane is out. He is good with both feet and is one of the best attackers in the Premier League at the moment. Without Son Heung-Min, Spurs would have been knocked out in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in 2019-20 and would have failed to secure 6th place in last season’s Premier League.

It would not be surprising to see the big names of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and the likes, being interested in having his signature if the South Korean can continue this run of form.

#3 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

The Arsenal striker now, winger, has been the knight in shining armour for the North London club. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of the best goal scorers in world football. He just knows how to put the ball in the back of the net. If you give him half a chance, he takes it more often than not. He has been a one-man show on several occasions for Arsenal since signing for the club.

Aubameyang came in with a big reputation from Borussia Dortmund during the 2017-18 season but that did not phase him in any way. He hit the ground running for the Gunners, notching up 10 goals and 4 assists in just 13 Premier League games. The prolific forward has notched up 22 goals in 36 games in each of his last 2 Premier League campaigns. Aubameyang is always in the talk for the Premier League Golden Boot and fans should expect it to be no different this time out.

The Gabonese surprisingly just renewed his contract with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team that finished 8th last season, 3 points behind derby rivals, Tottenham. This will have given a boost to the team seeing the long-term commitment that their star player has made even though the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona seemed interested in signing him.

Aubameyang is on a quest to help Arsenal get back into the UEFA Champions League and achieve greater heights by challenging for the Premier League trophy so that North Londoners can relive the days of success they had under the great, Arsene Wenger.

#2 – Virgil van Dijk

The best player in the world in 2018-19, Virgil van Dijk became the latest defender to have won the FIFA The Best award. The Dutchman has been immense and solved the underlying problem that Liverpool had for over a decade – a world-class central defender. Many questioned Virgil van Dijk’s price tag as Jurgen Klopp signed him up, making him the most expensive defender in football at the time but their critics were quickly silenced.

Liverpool ended up making a big run in the 2018-19 season but lost out on the league title because of an even more prolific Manchester City side. However, the Kop did not have to wait too long to win their first league title after 30 years as they steamrolled the entire league last season to win the title by a handsome 18 points. The Dutch defender, Van Dijk had no small role to play in that. The club vice-captain featured in all 38 games for the champions last season and bagged 5 goals and received only 1 yellow card in the campaign. That is an unbelievable stat, especially for a central defender in the world’s most physical football league.

Liverpool had 15 clean sheets last season and are unbeaten at Anfield for over a year in the Premier League and Virgil van Dijk deserves massive credit for this. He is solid at the back and marshalls the team from the back extremely well. He sets the high line when Liverpool attacks, pushing up all the defenders and directs the midfield on the set up defensively.

Van Dijk has a calming influence on the pitch and is a threat on set plays with his incredible leaping ability and strength along with a knack of scoring goals. He’d be the first name on any team sheet in world football at the moment.

#1 – Kevin de Bruyne

Simply the best – Kevin de Bruyne is a class apart. There are only positive superlatives that can describe the quality of the Belgian midfielder on the football pitch. Very few players possess the football IQ that de Bruyne possesses and his passing is just immaculate. He can see all the other 21 players on the field at one go and is ever so calm on the ball.

The Manchester City midfielder is not only the Premier League’s best player but also the most important to Pep Guardiola’s side. City looks just so much better with de Bruyne on the pitch. The attacking midfielder was awarded the PFA Player of the Year award last season even though Man City finished 18 points behind Liverpool, which just highlights how good a player he is.

De Bruyne finished with a Premier League record-tying 20 assists (Thierry Henry held this record alone, previously) last season in 35 appearances! He also had 13 goals to his name. With David Silva moving back to Spain, the onus remains on de Bruyne to be the focal point of Manchester City’s offence. City is going to be the big favourite to win back the league title from Liverpool and de Bruyne is going to have a major role to play once again.

Will Kevin de Bruyne keep shining bright for the blue side of Manchester or will there be someone else stepping up and taking over as the Premier League’s best this season?